Our Work
Our work
CompassLab’s first line of work is based on electoral analysis and topics applied to the political dynamics tied to leadership selection, party systems, electoral campaigns, and related issues. In this area, we possess not just information, but all the expertise that enables us to apply our political science know-how productively in a spatial perspective.
The second line of work is focused on the analysis and evaluation of public policy. In this line we emphasize the connectivity of public services networks, spatial inequalities in the provision of public services and the territorially uneven development of State capabilities and infrastructures. Some additional applications include the location of infrastructures and the analysis of their respective areas of influence and impact. Questions such as the optimal place to build a school or a hospital are some of the targets of these analytical strategies (location analytics and geodemographics)..
As political geodemography we understand the branch of social sciences focused on the understanding of a wide range of political phenomena, ranging from inequality and social stratification to economic and social flows; as well as violence and spatial patterns of social organization (geodemography). The core purpose of this line of research is to develop a new geodemographic public management approach that includes the spatial dimension to the analysis and evaluation of public policies.
Advantages and Synergies
The Lab, as originally designed, presents multiple advantages. These are derived from the synergies among social sciences and spatial analysis, academic and professional multidisciplinarity, university and civil society, expert knowledge and knowledge transfer to institutions and companies, national and international focus of action.
- Transfer of expert and impartial academic knowledge to the benefit of society.
- Ability to express, summary, and graphically present data and socio-political events characterized by their high complexity.
- Decisive bet towards research, innovation and the technical and technological development.
- Academic and professional multidisciplinarity, within a project that looks ahead.
- The University of Salamanca as a warranty of quality and innovation towards Latin America.
Innovation
We advance knowledge through the development of new techniques for social and political analysis, as well as for public policy.
Training
We train researchers in spatial analysis and provide students with skills highly demanded by the labour market.
Consulting
We put our know-how at the disposal of the academia, public institutions, political parties, and other organizations.